NASA Finds Tranquility with a View

NASA is prepping what will be the last major component to be added to the International Space Station in February. The Tranquility node will provide additional room for crew members and come with an attached cupola offering views from six windows on the sides and one on top.

NASA has officially taken possession of the Tranquility node, which will be
the last major component set to be added to the International Space Station. When
delivered to the ISS in February by the space shuttle Endeavour, the
pressurized node will provide additional room for crew members and many of the
space station's life support and environmental control systems already on
board.

"Tranquility was built for NASA by Thales Alenia Space, in Turin,
Italy, under contract to
the European Space Agency," NASA said in a news release Nov. 23. Although
Tranquility was actually delivered in May to "the cavernous Space Station
Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center
in Florida," NASA did not
officially take possession until Nov. 20.

"Spanning about 22 feet in length and 14 feet in diameter ...
Tranquility's connection point on the station will be on the Earth-facing side
of the Unity node. The new component will provide an additional docking point
for space shuttles and other crew vehicles visiting the station. Attached to
Tranquility will be Cupola, a unique work module with six windows on the sides
and one on top," NASA said.
According to NASA, Cupola's windows will be more than trimmings. "As
more cargo vehicles begin frequenting the space station, the station's robotic
arm is going to be called into action to capture some of them as they approach
and guide them into their docking port," NASA said in a June 19 feature on
the space shuttle. Cupola will provide additional views for those operations.

NASA has been touting the delivery of the Tranquility mode and its attached
Cupola since the summer.

"This flight will, I think, grab the public's attention," Kirk
Shireman, ISS program deputy manager, said in the same June 19 statement.
"It's just going to be a really, really neat module for those on board.
The dream of being able to go out and just have an unencumbered view of space-we'll
have it. You can open up all the windows and look around and really feel like
you're out there."